III Ahmv.i'.i-.i'i:: liiir 1 '"lit', . iiiilii;... WJttHl 1':. "!t(!!i 11,1, ;i;i (i!!<it !!i 111 r'I';i:l;i,::!;!' iiii m il!l8!il!llp!|iife!!!i!ii i('Jill il liiliifiiii;: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from LYRASIS IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/faithsforfewOOwhal FAITHS FOR THE FEW By the same author: Separated Brethren Christianity and American Fieemasonry Chiistian Family Finance Catholics on Campus Armageddon Around the Corner FAITHS FOR THE FEW A Study of Minority Religions WILLIAM J. WHALEN THE BRUCE PUBLISHING COMPANY MILWAUKEE NIHIL obstat: John F. Murphy, S.T.D. Censor librorum imprimatur: f« William E. Cousins Archbishop oi Milwaukee April 26, 1963 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number; 63-19634 ©1963 \Villl\.m J. Whalen made in the united states of AMERICA PREFACE Popular writers often divide the American people into three neat religious categories: Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. Pollsters con- firm this categorization because most Gentile non-Catholics identify themselves as 'Trotestants" when asked their religious preference. Nevertheless a tri-faith United States does not correspond with reality. Secular Humanism certainly constitutes a commitment, a faith, a way of life for many millions of Americans. Its values and assumptions and moral attitudes do not coincide with those of any of the three major theistic religions. Eastern Orthodoxy, likewise, claims the spiritual allegiance of 2,500,000 Americans and the two main Latter-day Saints bodies report nearly 2,000,000 members. Beyond these obvious exceptions to the familiar tri-faith descrip- tion of American religious life are many other minority religions. Some of these such as Baha'i and the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) are related to another world faith: Islam. Some, such as Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, and the I Am cult, are generally classi- fied as occult religions. Others, popularly identified as Protestant denominations, such as Christian Science and Jehovah's Witnesses, actually bear only a superficial resemblance to historic Protestantism and, in fact, negate the basic principles of the Reformation. These minority faiths range in size from the moribund Sweden- borgian Church of the New Jerusalem with fewer than 7,000 adherents in this country to the prosperous, mushrooming Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Many of these bodies originated and developed in nineteenth-century America even though they now count a majority of their followers outside the United States. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses, a cult founded in Pittsburgh and now headquartered in Brooklyn, reports three members outside the United States to every American Witness. The Baha'is have attracted only 12,000 American converts but number millions of members in Iran and India. The same pre- vi PREFACE ponderance of non-American followers is reported by the Spiritualists, Seventh-day Adventists, Moral Re-Armament enthusiasts, and Old Catholics. We have also included a discussion of the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan) since that church was founded in American- occupied territory and has spent most of its short history under the American flag. American citizens were influential in giving this schism theological and political direction. Today the Aglipayans maintain intercommunion and close ties with the Protestant Epis- copal Church from which it received Anglican orders in 1946. Its supreme bishop claims 2,500,000 followers including some Filipinos in Hawaii. Some of the minority religions we will discuss date back to the early eighteenth century while others, such as the I Am and Black Muslim movements, originated as recently as the 1930's. Of course, many sects and cults have come and gone over the years. They lacked the power of survival and have become historical curiosities. The celibate Shakers are an example of a near extinct cult while the mail-order cult of Psychiana died with the death of founder Frank Robinson. While a few cults like Swedenborgianism and I Am are stagnant, some far outdistance the older established denominations in growth. Jehovah's Witnesses, for instance, has been termed the fastest growing religion in the world; in the 20 years between 1942 and 1962 membership increased 700 per cent and now approaches 1,000,000. The Utah Mormons carry on an extensive missionary campaign with the aid of 12,000 volunteer missionaries who are usually young men just past 19. Last year the Mormons baptized 105,000 converts, double the harvest of the previous year. This together with an un- usually high birth rate, stable family life, and low death rate has pushed the Utah-based church into the forefront of American cults. Even excluding the four million Freemasons and the Aglipayans, the adherents of the various minority religions described in the fol- lowing chapters would easily exceed 5,000,000 in the United States and Canada. If a study in depth were undertaken to discover the genuine commitment of a sampling of American adults, we might PREFACE vii find that Secular Humanism alone would claim 20 or 25 million "believers." Regardless of ''church-preference" statistics, four out of ten Americans lack even a nominal affiliation with any church or synagogue. Not all minority religions are included in this book. Other chapters might have considered Vedanta, the Hutterites, Father Divine's Peace Mission, the Christadelphians, Anglo-Israelism. We have tried to concentrate on those groups which are fairly well known among Catholics and Protestants. Relatively speaking we have sometimes devoted more attention to groups about which little has been published such as the Rosicrucians, Polish National Cath- olics, Old Catholics, Aglipayans, and Liberal Catholics and less to such well-researched groups as Christian Science. Most of the cultists described in these chapters engage in active proselytism; they are branded sheep stealers since they usually work among people already within some Christian tradition. They use the printed word, door-to-door preaching, reading rooms, radio and TV, mass rallies to bring their message to the people. For example, the Witnesses now print four million copies of their semimonthly Watchtower and three million of Awake/ This is several times the circulation of the largest Roman Catholic or Protestant periodi- cals. The average Witness also spends 11 hours a month in doorstep preaching. Each local Christian Science branch is expected to main- tain a reading room where the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Christian Science publishing society are available. The cultists are daily visiting Catholic and Protestant homes and presenting their own often bizarre doctrines. Their efforts are bear- ing fruit. Thousands who once attended Sunday Mass with their fellow Catholics now stand on the street corner selling copies of the Watchtower or find their spiritual nourishment in a Mormon sacrament meeting or a Baha'i study circle. The Christian, lay or clerical, who knows nothing about the cults can offer little help to other Christians among his family, neighbor- hood, or acquaintanceship who may be lured by the promises and attractions of the cults. To provide further study about any par- ticular group we have included a selected bibliography. Only books viii PREFACE in English normally available in public libraries of medium and large cities and in universities have been listed. Some of the chapters in this volume originally appeared as magazine articles. All such chapters have been revised and enlarged. I would like to thank the editors of The Piiestj Sign, Mary Im- maculate, and The Lamp for permission to use this material. A number of individuals have been kind enough to review specific chapters. In particular I would like to thank Mr. Peter F. Anson, Sr. Mary Dorita, B.V.M., Mr. Richard L. Pierce, Rev. Richard Ginder, Rev. John A. Hardon, S.J., and Rev. Leo A. Piguet. Prof. Eric L. Clitheroe examined the complete manuscript and offered many valuable suggestions. Mrs. Ruth Shaffer did much of the typing. I would also like to thank my wife for her patience, critical readings, typing assistance, and helpful comments. W. J. W. February 1, 1963 Lafayette, Indiana CONTENTS Preface v 1. doukhoborism 1 2. swedenborgianism 9 3. Freemasonry 14 4. mormonism 25 5. Baha'ism 36 6. Spiritualism 42 7. Seventh-day Adventism 48 8. New Thought .53 9. Christian Science 58 10. Old Catholicism 65 11. Jehovah's Witnesses 77 12. Salvation Army 86 13. Unity School of Christianity . .95 14. Pentecostalism 102 15. Polish National Catholicism . .109 16. Theosophy and the Liberal Catholic Church . 121 X CONTENTS 17. Aglipay.\nism 132 18. rosicrucianism 146 19. Moral Re-Armament 159 20. I Am 166 21. Nation of Islaai 174 22. Secular Hum.\nism 181 Selected Bibliogr^aphy 189 Index 195 FAITHS FOR THE FEW CHAPTER 1 DOUKHOBORISM Russian Spirit Wrestlers Plague Canadian Authorities American husbands who "get mad" at their wives are hkely to put on their hats and coats and leave the house. The Sons of Freedom sect of Doukhobors who "get mad" at the government are hkely to take off all their clothes and burn down their houses. For more than 40 years the Sons of Freedom have battled the Canadian government. Trouble started when the government seized some Freedomite land as payment for fines incurred when the mem- bers of the sect refused to send their children to school. In 1962 the Sons of Freedom outdid themselves in arson and bomb attacks. They climaxed their series of destructions by blowing up a 366-foot power transmission tower on the east bank of Kootenay Lake, throwing 1000 people out of work because of the power loss. A few weeks later the Royal Canadian Mounted Police rounded up all the Freedomite leaders, charging some with terrorism and 70 others with masterminding the raids and with "conspiring to in- timidate Parliament." While the Sons of Freedom languished in jail their wives and daughters set out on a scorched earth policy at their main village of Krestova.